I know you've thought about it, but I did it. And it tasted good so why do I feel so dirty, so full of shame?

We were at the beach and my 4 year old insisted I keep some of the 12-15 inch hardheads we were catching...

I have some pictures and the results of the cooking over at my "http://wp.me/p3bCKM-h1" if you are interested.

Raise of hands if you've eaten hardhead. Don't be shy!

Okay, gafftops yes but never had the nerve to try a hardhead. In fact I thought the slimers were pretty good when they were fileted and fried fresh the same day - just a real fine textured filet. I never tried freezing them for later.

I too have eaten sailcats many times. Very good. Can't recall if I have ever frozen any though.

You are braver than I to try hardheads. One poster on TheHullTruth.com once posted a poll.

The question: "have you ever eaten a hardhead?"

Your three answer options were: "yes, and it was horrible," "yes, and it was terrible," or "no."

That one made me laugh. The responses were quite varied and more people than I would have expected had taken one or two home for the fryer.

I was in the Army with a fellow from Mass. that
repeatedly told me that a catfish was poison and would kill you if you ate one. He called them something else but described catfish. He might have been talking about those sea creatures that look like a catfish. That was back in the 1960's. miles

Tried once on a big one that swallowed the hook down hard. When we got home and tried to fillet it, the smell was so bad, as if rotting, I tossed it. The whiting were still good, so it was not a temperature issue. Maybe they decompose faster?

Don't eat carp. Don't eat whatever that thing in the picture is either......

Like any other channel cat I imagine. Ya have to cut the tail, let it bleed in the water for a while. Then put it in a bag so it doesn't bleed all over the cooler under a bunch of ice and eat it when ya get home. Cut the yellow and mud line off it. It will be a good tasting fish if it is like a channel cat, but I never ate a " hardhead".

.....and throw away the fish and eat the pine board......you know how it goes....

silly blog

fixed it for you!

Mike

I've caught salt water catfish and people told me you couldn't eat them, so I threw them back. I have eaten fresh water catfish all my life. They also are considered trash fish by many people.

Is there a huge difference?

Thanks Ready!

RH,

No there isn't a lot of difference in the taste. I will say, that hardheads usually are so small, even these yielded a very low ratio of actual meat to weight. The other variety I've caught, gafttop do yield a good bit of meat, but neither seem to give you the same amount freshwater catfish do.

Welcome sir!

Liked those kids fishing pics!


Mike

You can thin slice and batter just about anything and make it taste good when it comes out of a fryer, I learned that with okra.